Over a hundred Indian immigrants who had illegally entered the US have been sent back on a military transport aircraft in line with President Donald Trump’s policy to tighten the borders and crackdown on illegal immigration.
Back home, they have narrated the treacherous trek through what is known as the ‘Donkey’ route to reach the US. They shared how their American Dream was shattered at the borders, and they were handcuffed and put on the return flight.
The US military’s C-17 Globemaster aircraft, in which they were packed off for home, landed in Amritsar yesterday with 104 deportees – all Indians. The C-17 aircraft runs an extremely high cost when compared to even first-class and chartered flights.
Watch: US Video Shows Indian Migrants In Shackles, Sent Back On Military Plane
Last week’s flight to Guatemala, for example, had likely incurred a cost of $4,675 per migrant, five times $853, the average cost of a one-way first class, according to news agency Reuters. The cost was also significantly higher than commercial charter flights that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hired for previous deportation flights.
The deportations come amid Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration right after taking over as the US President. The US government had earlier flown back immigrants to Guatemala, Peru, and Honduras.
Cost Of Deportation
The cost of deporting 64 migrants to Guatemala on the C-17 aircraft was around $28,500 per hour, Reuters quoted an unnamed US official as saying. The flight took about 10.5 hours to complete the journey. This excluded any ground time or time taken to prepare for take-off.
A plane flying from San Antonio, Texas to Amritsar takes over 19 flight hours with multiple stops. Based on the above figure, the cost of operating the giant transport aircraft calculates to over half a million dollars, or over Rs 4 crore.
Read: Handcuffed, Chained, Thrown Like Boxes: Indian Migrants’ American Nightmare
The first round of deportation of Indians comes amid reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may visit the US next week. India and the US have identified 18,000-odd Indian illegal migrants who may face deportation, according to Bloomberg News.
President Trump has said PM Modi has assured him of taking back the illegal immigrants, stating that India “will do what’s right”. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, too, has indicated that India is open to the “legitimate return” of Indians who are living illegally in the US.
How Cost Has Risen
The cost of sending back the migrants on a C-17 Globemaster is much higher than chartering a commercial aircraft by the ICE. It usually charters Boeing 737 or McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series planes for deportation, but the US government is now using military aircraft to send back the immigrants.
Read: “Walked 45 Kilometres, Saw Bodies On The Way”: Indians Deported From US
The cost of hiring charter planes has varied over the years. The “ICE Air” flights were priced at $8,577 per flight hour back in 2021. But a 2023 flight carrying 135 deportees that lasted about five hours incurred a cost of $17,000 per flight hour, the ICE informed during a Budget hearing.
This translates to a cost of $630 per person, assuming that the cost is only for one way and ICE does not pay for the return flight.
But the cost has risen since 2023, Reuters cited a former ICE official as saying.